Jumbo Red
A large, red-skinned, deep red-fleshed cultivar and one of the most widely planted commercial clones in India тАФ prized for size and the high-value red flesh. Like most red types it needs cross-pollination or night hand-pollination for good fruit set.
Quick facts
- Type
- Rooted stem cutting (red-flesh cultivar)
- Season
- All seasons
- Maturity period
- Bears from year 1тАУ2; fruiting flushes JuneтАУNovember
- Expected yield
- High; large fruit, building to 20тАУ25 kg/plant at maturity
- Suitable soil
- All soils
About this variety
Jumbo Red is a large-fruited, red-skinned, deep red-fleshed dragon fruit cultivar of the Hylocereus costaricensis type, and one of the most widely planted commercial clones across Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka and the southern states. Growers choose it for fruit size and for the intensely coloured red flesh that commands the highest market price тАФ red-fleshed fruit consistently sells above white-fleshed fruit in both domestic and export channels. Its one real demand is pollination: like almost all red-fleshed clones it is partly to fully self-incompatible, so a solid block of Jumbo Red alone will flower heavily but set little fruit unless a compatible pollen-donor cultivar is interplanted or the night-opening flowers are hand-pollinated with a brush.
Key characteristics
Sowing & cultivation
- Spacing2 m ├Ч 2 m to 3 m ├Ч 3 m between poles, 3тАУ4 cuttings per pole
Yield & maturity
Maturity period
Bears from year 1тАУ2; fruiting flushes JuneтАУNovember
Expected yield
High; large fruit, building to 20тАУ25 kg/plant at maturity
Actual yield depends on sowing time, soil, irrigation, weather, seed quality and crop management.
Pest & disease considerations
Advantages & considerations
Why farmers may choose it
- Large fruit and premium deep-red flesh тАФ the highest-value colour class in the market.
- Vigorous and widely available as rooted cuttings from Indian nurseries.
Things to consider
- Poorly self-fertile тАФ needs a compatible pollen-donor cultivar interplanted, or night hand-pollination, or the block sets little fruit.
Suitable regions
States this variety is recommended for тАФ check locally, since a state can have more than one recommended zone.
- Gujarat
- Maharashtra
- Karnataka
- Andhra Pradesh